Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Blink and You'll Miss Them: 5 Exclusive Collabor88 Deals to Grab While You Still Can

February is a deceptively short month, and that means that right now lost of avid Second Life fashion fans are rushing to make sure they have everything they want from their favorite limited-time events. For me, Collabor88 sits at the top of that list. February's lineup was ridiculously strong, featuring a lot of guest designers and collaboration between many of the regulars. While the event was centered around love and romance (because, you know, February) just about everything there manages to hold up to post-Valentine's day scrutiny.

So if you've yet to make the trip over to C88 yourself this month, here are a few items you won't want to miss:

While all of the items Yummy designer Polyester Partridge put out this month are beautifully made, let's not pretend that the Embellished key necklace at the center of them all isn't the real showstopper. When I say that I'm shocked that Second Life designers aren't being scouted far more regularly for their 3D modelling skills, the fidelity of items like this gorgeously detailed little charm are exactly what I mean.

I'm also talking about things like these flats by Betty Doyle of Ingenue. While I haven't been hearing more and more stories about Second Life designers being scouted, I have certainly been hearing more and more stories about Second Life designers being contacted by people who think their products are physical, asking where they can buy them. And when the product in question is as detailed as these shoes (I'm a sucker for the stitching in particular) it's completely understandable when Second Life outsiders get a bit confused about virtual goods.

It's not too surprising that a Valentine's-inspired round of Collabor88 is packed with a parade of adorable dresses, but Jackal Ennui's Vivianne dress may be among the most versatile. I can just as easily see it with a high collared blouse and a pair of opaque tights for a more prim and proper look, or with stiletto ankle boots and diabolically red lips in a decidedly more provocative configuration. It's a romantic dress with plenty of room to infuse your own personality.

Short hair, perfect curls, a couple wisps. My Love is a relatively straightforward style, bit it's another very versatile choice that would be easy to dress up or down depending on your mood. That's not to mention the fact that quite a few male avatars out there could even pull this style off perfectly.

As always, I have to leave room for those who are more invested in dressing up their virtual spaces than their virtual bodies. While Collabor88 regularly features plenty of inspiring decor items, the storybook-meet-shadowbox displays from the Forest Love set are some of my favorites in a very long time. It can be difficult to execute these kinds of subtle curios well in Second Life, but these manage to be just as eye-catching as any of the bolder items in the set.

You've got just over a week before Collabor88 closes its doors to set up for March, so don't dawdle. While many of these items will probably reappear at designers' main stores, their discounted prices definitely won't!

Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart on Twitter, Iris Ophelia in Second Life) has been writing about virtual worlds and video games for nearly a decade, and has had her work featured on Paste, Kotaku, Jezebel and The Mary Sue.